Judge denies dismissal at rabbi's pre-trial hearing

Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, left, seated with his attorney Howard Simmons, appeared in a Hackensack courtroom for a pre-trial hearing last week. He is accused of molesting two teenage boys at his home.

A Teaneck rabbi appeared in state Superior Court last week for a hearing in advance of his upcoming trial on charges of child endangerment, aggravated sexual contact and criminal sexual assault.

Rabbi Uzi Rivlin, 65, is accused a molesting two 13-year-old Israeli boys in his home in 2009 and 2010. According to Bergen County prosecutors, the victims had been staying in Rivlin's house during two summers as part of a scholarship fund run by the rabbi. Upon returning to Israel, the alleged victims made the accusations separately to Israeli authorities.

The boys, along with three other witnesses, will be flown to the United States to testify at the trial.

Rivlin taught at Temple Beth Abraham in Tarrytown, N.Y. and ran the scholarship fund for more than a decade. The Israeli children who attained the scholarships would stay in the United States for several months, living with a host family and attending summer camp.

Rivlin was arrested in August 2011, after the FBI notified the local authorities of the accusations.

Since the arrest, Rivlin has maintained his innocence, and at the March 19 pre-trial hearing his attorney, Howard Simmons, asked Judge Patrick Roma to dismiss Rivlin's indictment, contending that the evidence presented to the grand jury was insufficient. Simmons' request was denied.

Rivlin, who has been out on bail since his arrest, attended the hearing with the assistance of a Hebrew interpreter.